


Cold Hearts, Hot Mojave

by Venira



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Caesar's Legion, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-04-29 14:27:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14474640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Venira/pseuds/Venira
Summary: Certain settings, plots, and character rights belong to their respective creators (Bethesda, Obsidian Entertainment, whoever else)"It was the woman from the wastes, the fresh meat dragged into the den of the slavering desert beasts. Hawks, coyotes, scorpions, snakes... Foxes, wolves. Everyone could smell the prey now that it was so near."One day, a cold and merciless Frumentarii comes upon a hapless woman, lying at the bottom of a ditch. This story explores their relationship, and whether or not there could ever be a future together in a violent, irradiated land, against better odds.Could this beast known as Vulpes Inculta be tamed? Or would he simply consume her?(Rated teen+ for language, violence, and somewhat mature themes)Also, if you'd like, check out the related 8Tracks playlist I made!: https://8tracks.com/acioco/cold-hearts-hot-mojave





	1. Prologue: Burn the Midnight Corpses

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I really hope you like this first chapter! Please let me know what you think in the comments, and I apologize for it being so short! I assure you later chapters will be longer, this is just more of an introduction and I wasn't sure the right approach to start.

Light flickered against his dark goggles like a torch held above tumultuous ocean, reflecting in the violent waves while hovering over death. Vulpes too hovered near death, as it consumed the profligates beside him. He watched the flames crawl, chewing at their flesh as they writhed against crosses, groaning and screaming as blood boiled and skin seared.

...It wasn't at all an odd sight for him, in fact it was mildly pleasant. For him it could be considered an odd interpretation of wasteland justice. These people were immoral, selfish, ignorant, the reasons humanity hadn't yet restored itself to security and sanity. This little event was a helpful purge, his duty to those that dreamed of a better future, such as Caesar.

Sure, the future Caesar led was also back some steps from pre-war, what with all of the Romanization aspects of it, yet did the ancient Romans not have a functioning society? General necessities, order and organization? Care for loyal citizens and the law? They weren't perfect or always in the right, yet they lasted centuries. Was there a better historical example out there? To find guidance in, rather than stumble through dystopian life trying and failing to create a new sort of civilization, risking it all?

No. The Legion respected looking back on the past with their available resources, and finding what made others thrive before them. Vulpes was proud to be a frumentarii among such well-thought people, and as such felt glad to do away with these adversaries.

He stepped back, turned, and dispatched his men back to the camp of Caesar. As the legionaries marched onward through ashes and irradiated dust, he trailed a ways behind, cunning eyes on the prowl for survivors of their massacre.

* * *

Night turned to dawn, and the men continued, smoke still rising from the distant ruins of Nipton. Vulpes had now fallen back by a few hundred feet of his men, but it was normal for him. He kept the same pace as the rest, but traveled in zig zags to follow or examine whatever he'd find, always hoping to discover something new to impress Caesar or better the camp.

Tonight it was just a jammed revolver. Lost by its owner, he saw it glinting in the sand as the sun rose behind its nestling dune. He took it and tucked it into his belt.

...A little while later, and he came upon a much more interesting find. The awakening dawn revealed a woman slumped at the bottom of a hill, skin and leather armor scratched by desert brush as she seemingly collapsed and tumbled down. It piqued his curiosity, so he slid down the slope towards her, jilting dust and pebbles out of place.

Stopping before her and crouching down closer, Vulpes grabbed her dark hand by its light palm and raised it up, using his other hand to feel for a pulse on her wrist. It was there, though it felt a bit tired. She didn't seem to be shot or bleeding from any major wounds, so perhaps it was sickness or dehydration that had loosened her conscience. Those afflictions seemed all the more common, some months.

He stayed crouching there, pondering for a moment what to do about his discovery. He could just kill her, as she was likely a profligate and deserved no less, yet were there not other options? _...Yes, I suppose. Siri can surely find some use for her. If not, I can._ Indeed, he had made up his mind. There wasn't much time to think it over besides, he should catch up with his men.

One way he justified "sparing" her was it saved him a bullet. And admittedly, she might be of a camp true to Caesar; to kill her without knowing seemed just a bit wrong. Sure the Legion intimidated its subjects into submission, but they still rewarded those who showed great loyalty.

With motive in mind, Vulpes put her over his shoulder and began back up at an incline. It was time to head home.


	2. Expect the Expected

...She sputtered, startling Siri from her silent work. 

It was the woman from the wastes, the fresh meat dragged into the den of the slavering desert beasts. Hawks, coyotes, scorpions, snakes... Foxes, wolves. Everyone could smell the prey now that it was so near.

Quickly, Siri grabbed a wooden bowl of lukewarm water from off to the side, and put her other hand to support the woman's back as she struggled to rise, elbows leaning back onto the rough sandy carpet of the tent.

After sitting up and rubbing the dust from her eyes, the woman saw the bowl and took it eagerly, draining it within seconds. She then placed the empty bowl back into Siri's hands as she started coughing again, having drank too quickly.

"Careful," Siri soothed. "Take it easy."

Once the woman was done with her bout, she took a moment to think about where she was. _I've been saved. A kind woman brings me into her home and helps me_ , she quickly thought, looking through dusty air at it all around her, a bed, some materials, a small stack of books. It was striking to consider such kindness in such hard and violent times. This was the unthinkable.

"I," she started, throat hoarse from not speaking in a while. "I don't know what to say."

Siri was then a bit confused at that. "It's alright, we're well stocked on water here," she replied, settling the wooden bowl to the side, assuming she was referencing the gesture of giving her water.

_We? ...She must have a family around, I'd guess that would explain the muffled voices outside of the tent..._

"Oh, well I mean..." The woman stood up, using a hand to steady herself against a tentpole. "Thank you so much for your kindness..?"

"Siri."

"..Siri. Thank you," the woman replied genuinely, nodding and stepping aside. "I'll just, I'll let myself out, I'm okay and I really don't want to be a bother and-"

She lifted open the flap of the tent before Siri had a chance to protest...

...Legionaries. Talking, training, brooding. Some left droplets of blood on the dirt as they walked by, red rolling off of their leather armor.

_Oh._

She hastily closed the curtain and stepped back, standing frozen at the revelation. When she turned she saw Siri paused in motion, about to have held her shoulder to bring her back from their view.

Siri let her arm back down. "I'm sorry. I-I guess this wasn't what you were expecting."

"N-no, I should have known better," the woman said sternly, though more in discipline to herself, still stuck in place. "...I'm not thinking you're the reason I'm here."

"No."

"...Do you know who?"

Siri paused a moment, licking her lips and looking unsure if she should say. "Yes, there is a frumentarii here," she stated slowly. "Vulpes Inculta. He found you and brought you here."

The woman then hesitated too, unsure if she should bother. "...Do you know the purpose?" she asked quietly.

Siri swallowed, and felt compelled to turn away. "...Likely the same as mine, being here," Siri stated, now shuffling with her materials and then sitting back down on the carpet.

Everyone knew about the Legion, so there wasn't a lot of room to guess on the unsaid purpose.

"Again, I-I'm sorry about the situation," Siri continued, feeling pity. "My first days were never pleasant. Come tell me your name," she finished, patting a spot.

There was more of a casual dread to the tent now, and after collecting herself for a moment the woman became comfortable enough conversing with Siri that she sat down across from her, as requested.

"You don't need to apologize," she asserted. "We're in the same boat, I guess... My name is Alice."

Siri offered her a small smile. "Okay, Alice. What would you like to know?"

"How long I've been out," she asked simply.

"A bit over a day, not really too long," Siri answered, getting back to her crafts as they spoke, beginning to thread a needle.

"Why am I in here with you?"

"I'm a healer here, well, in a way. I tried patching you up and hydrating you as best I could while you were out." Then Siri put her things back down again and stood up. "That reminds me, are you feeling hungry?"

Alice nodded. "I don't even remember my last meal."

"Okay then, I'll be right back with something. Please don't cause any trouble," Siri asked pleadingly, exiting the tent.

_Trouble. Who, me? Noooo, I'll be perfectly compliant. I'm so happy to be here._

She honestly had been in worse situations before, and with that lighter, sarcastic thought aside, Alice leaned over and lifted the tent open only slightly. She observed a troop marching by, their armored feet kicking up dust, and once they passed and the dust had settled again, behind them was stood a heavily armored man, horned head towards her.

_Is he looking at me? It's...hard to tell with such a helmet._

Feeling like she didn't want to find out, Alice closed the tent again and scooted back further into it. _I guess being compliant might be safest. At least for now._ Siri soon after emerged inside, carrying an old Nuka Cola box.

"Alright," Siri said, sitting down once again and placing the box before her. "Have your fill."

Peering inside, Alice picked out a Nuka-Cola and a box of cram. While she began to eat, Siri continued her work of making stitching a specific garment and crafting healing powder.

The cola was warm, and unsettlingly salty, but it still felt refreshing. The cram tasted fine, and once Alice finished she set the glass bottle and cardboard scrap back into the box.

* * *

Alice was given a book to read for the past hour, while Siri would come and go as she busied herself throughout the day.

 _I wonder when my time of work comes_ , Alice couldn't help but ponder dismally, arm propped up on a crossed knee, holding her head as she read. _How would one settle into this life, anyway?_

The book was alright, though admittedly there were some words she didn't know. It was about some sort of wanderer on their odd and hot travels, so she could at least relate. But she had absolutely no idea what a giraffe was supposed to look like.

Yet suddenly, light hit her as the tent was opened. With squinted eyes she looked up, not to see the silhouette of Siri, but to see the outline of a man with a wolf helm standing there, blood meandering from a gash in his arm, eyes shrouded by goggles that showed smears of attempt to clear them of blood spatters.

"You're up," he stated, walking over to a wooden chair and sitting himself down, grimacing slightly. "I see Siri is out."

"Y-yes, she had to deliver something," Alice replied nervously to the stranger, rising up from the floor.

He grumbled a bit, removing his goggles. "I don't suppose you could treat my wound..? She hasn't trained you yet, has she."

"Well, I-I know a bit from experience." Alice began to clumsily gather up some healing supplies she saw Siri fiddling with earlier, setting them onto a table as she pulled a stool next to his arm, sitting down.

"Good, good. Do your best, and consider this your first evaluation," he said, offering a small smile.

Alice was pretty surprised at his lack of savagery, though the long gashes on his arm suggested that he really was that way. She would have thought a legionary would barge in and demand things of her, but this man seemed more patient. Maybe it would have gone differently if she had refused to accommodate him, but for now she was grateful her first day wasn't yet going terribly, beginning to fix his arm with care.

"From where do you hail?" he asked, to break the quiet. Or maybe he asked to distract himself from the hurt, as she did notice him wincing now and then.

"Oh. Uhm, a vault," Alice lied hesitantly.

"Really." He asked, voice dripping with uncertainty.

"Mhm."

"Which one?" he asked sharply.

"Vault 181," she uttered too quickly, without enough thought.

He turned to face her, and swung the hand of his good arm at her face in a displeased slap, then after turning back to sit normally. "That is not a real vault," he snapped, face turned away from her. "You should know better than to lie to your superiors." He was frowning now, clearly disappointed.

Alice held her face for a moment, but then began back to his wound, though with trembling hands.

"You are already here," he continued, with much more calm. "You not telling me will only create more suspicion..." the sentence trailed off.

"I-I'm sorry," Alice stuttered shakily. "I won't do that again." _What an asshole._

"So? Where? An NCR base?"

"N-no! No. I-I'm, I'm not even from the Mojave." Despite her stuttering, he gave her the benefit of the doubt.

"Interesting. What is the name of this outside place?"

"Oregon," Alice answered truthfully. Her ruse was up, but she had only lied before because she doubted anyone would believe she had made it so far.

He leaned his chin against the hand of his good arm, in thought. "Oregon... Yes, I believe I've seen the Oregon region on a map once before."

She almost laughed. _The Oregon region._ "It's a state. A good ways North from here," she replied with the faintest of smiles. She had no idea how to feel about this guy. First patient, then violent, and now somehow humorous. It was almost unsettling.

"Ah. Yes, I'm not too familiar with many states. Maybe once the Legion gains more ground through campaigning, I will be very familiar."

* * *

After his wound was properly sanitized, Alice began reorganizing Siri's workspace, wiping blood off the armrest of the wooden chair and rolling up unused gauze.

"I can wait until tomorrow, for Siri to stitch the wound," informed the wolf soldier, now standing off a ways.

"...Alright," Alice replied slowly while she continued cleaning, still unsure what to think of him.

He offered a nod of acknowledgement, before leaving the tent and entering the dusk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed this chapter is considerably longer than the last one! x) I'm hoping the rest of the chapters will be of size like this one.
> 
> Again, please let me know what you think of my story in the comments! Complements make me super happy but I'll also really appreciate suggestions, constructive criticism, noticed typos, etc., anything you think will help me be a better writer. For example of something you could answer, would you rather I alter my story to be Vulpes x Reader? I'd basically just have to change some wording here and there, remove the character name, that's about it. It was actually my original idea but I'm not sure why I abandoned it. Also, do you like the name Alice for the character? Originally I had it as unusual names such as Umata, and then Nona, but only today at the time of publishing this chapter I went "nah, maybe something easy like Alice." So yeah, all the name places have already been switched up multiple times, so let me know if you have any kind of preferences or liked anything I mentioned or like it as is with the name Alice.
> 
> Just let me know what you think about anything! :^)


	3. Toil and Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about this horrible hiatus I've been on ;-; Really truly, I've just needed some time and space away from the internet. However, I hope you like this chapter, in case any of you have actually stuck around! It's been so long that I'm curious if any of my readers are actually dead at this point. Morbid, but I can't help but wonder.
> 
> I'll probably be updating my FC5 fic next and then Borderlands, I think. Hopefully soon but I always say that, don't I.
> 
> Also, I got all soft when writing this and I just think the Alice and Siri friendship is so cute... I can't ughJfhfhfhfh

Alice couldn't imagine doing anything _more_ cliche, given her new role among the Legion as essentially a slave. She sat crouched on her knees beside a weakly-flowing river, the fortress not far from sight and Siri beside her too, another two slaves off farther down the river and two legionnaires keeping watch of all their work, as they washed and rinsed various utensils and apparel for Caesar and his men.

The majority of it was armor, scrubbing dried blood from leather helmets and torso-pieces, buffing scorch marks from bracers and boots. Her own little cleaning area was already leaving the water red and pink with runoff gore, though the source hadn't seemed good for drinking before anyways. It was probable that it became the standard washing area used by the Legion.

While she worked, Alice would look up sometimes and observe Vulpes. After his visit earlier in the week, she had asked Siri what his name was, besides calling him Wolf Man like he was a werewolf. Currently, he was instructing new troops outside the encampment, ordering recruits and legionnaires into certain formations and teaching Caesar's disciplinary codes. He seemed like he'd rather be doing other things, yet she could also see he enjoyed the power in many ways.

At one point, the man with strange armor she once saw outside Vulpes' tent intervened for a while with his training. Maybe they were preparing the soldiers for something specific, like an event or excursion or simply guarding the camp. Or something, Alice was just guessing at this point. It must be at least something more interesting than cleaning pants and forks. Maybe it was for a-

"Hey," one of the Legion guards said, pushing her with his foot. "Get back to work."

She hadn't even realized that she had been spacing out, her hand clenching the stained washcloth to a boot yet holding it perfectly still there. Alice muttered her acknowledgement and looked back down to her work.

As the armored man again loudly barked orders, soldiers marching and practicing with their weapons, Vulpes neared closer to the river with a legionnaire following suit. She couldn't help but let her eyes dart up to see what the problem was.

Arriving at the water, he leaned down and took a dried helmet from Siri's pile, as she purposefully avoided his gaze and possible ire. Vulpes pushed the helmet into the soldier's hands. 

"Take it, profligate," he said quietly but with spite. "Your insolence tires me. Do not doubt that we are past Fustuarium," he continued, pulling him by the arm once the man had shakily donned it.

Inculta's eyes flitted down to meet Alice's, but only briefly. "Let's talk," he told the soldier, turning and leading him off to the side.

She brought herself back to her work as they walked away again, blowing desert dust from a relatively clean bracer and setting it in a pile that dried quickly under the sun.

* * *

The day continued this way, a tired and hot drawl, noon crawling by, the sun lingering against everyone's necks and backs and drawing thick perspiration from everyone's skin. The most action that happened was a couple of radroaches getting shot by guards at the wall.

But eventually Vulpes called out a soldier again, the same one as before. He seemed in a weirdly erratic mood, his goggles removed but with dark goggle-shaped rings around his eyes, emphasized by noonday shadows, a bit like an angry raccoon. He called to a couple of other soldiers to follow him, and they all dragged the failed soldier off a ways. Alice couldn't tell at the distance what they were doing, but she could hear the man yelling in pain.

She could see the strangely armored man nodding in approval as he stayed with the rest of the troops. Later she asked Siri his name too, and with a shudder she replied, "Lanius". He had also exchanged words with Vulpes before the dramatic act.

Still talking quietly with Siri, Alice's heart jumped when she saw a droplet of blood splatter to the earth, on the dim silhouette of a wolf's head. Pulling her head up from a pair of boots in surprise, she saw Vulpes, holding out leather armor slick with blood to her. She took it all carefully into her hands and arms, the blood unsettlingly hot and viscous against her skin.

Then she peered back up at him with a quizzical look. He just killed that man. 

"Are you trying to impress me?" she teased with an awkward smile, her eyes wincing at the sun so she could see his face stark against it, casting her into his shadow. His goggles were back on, so she couldn't really tell what his eyes were brooding about this time.

"Clean this," He ordered simply, ignoring her question with a annoyed twitch to his mouth. "At your break, we will talk."

With that ominous delivery done, Vulpes stalked back to his troops and avoided her eyes. Once he was far enough away, she turned her confused face to Siri, who only had a shrug in response.

* * *

"Tomorrow, there will be a showdown of sorts, with a certain regiment of the NCR," Vulpes informed her coolly, polishing a knife while he stood, leaning into the shade of the small armory Alice had been led to. The sun made long shadows from the building, and the crates beside it resembled a crumbling black tower against the dirt and sand.

"You will tag along with the slave caravan, as we are also resupplying an encampment across the lake. It will be a simple test of endurance. Not all slaves are cut out for the task."

Wiping away a dead fly she accidentally smacked onto her arm, Alice looked up in a sort of unfortunate understanding. So far, she had been grateful for the menial tasks Siri assigned, observing the plight of those who had survived the Legion for a longer while, backs arched with heavy loads. Time to join the gang.

"...Why not just push me awake tomorrow morning and tell me to get a move on?" she asked curiously, not understanding why he was warning her in advance, being that she was regarded as an inferior human these days.

"Truthfully, it is not your place to question my words or actions," Vulpes responded pointedly, yet still in a relaxed tone. 

"We always assess our assets," he explained, putting away his knife and pulling off his goggles to wipe them of dirt and dust. "We pride ourselves on efficiency. If you would do better within another line of work, then that is where we would put you. 

"...However, this does not mean that you being sluggish or incapable tomorrow will spare you any grief. Most likely, if you prove proficient we will move you up. If insufficient, we will try again until you are not, or until you are not useful at all."

Pulling his goggles back on, his hands casually laced with each other as he leaned back against a crate. "I'm simply hoping that dragging you here _was_ not and _won't_ be a waste of resources. I simply hate to waste things. ...You should return to your duties, and see Siri at dawn for the caravan run." He waved his hand as a means of shooing her, so Alice returned to the river as he prowled into the armory, realizing he had essentially wasted time.

Siri patted the sand beside her, and Alice noticed half of the pile she had left for her break was clean.

"Thanks," she offered with a smile, sitting down next to Siri and picking up her washcloth again, caught on a rock in the river that gently tugged it downstream.

"Do you want to sweeten me up for something?" Alice wondered slyly.

"Just some gossip," Siri shrugged, with a bored smile. "What did the Frumentarii want?"

"I have to join the caravan tomorrow," she said with a sigh, wiping down a spoon that honestly looked like it had been used to scoop out someone's eye with how stained it was. "Are you going?"

"No, I guess you'll be on your own tomorrow, Alice. I have to tend to the sick."

"...So... basically everyone here? Do you get a big line outside your tent?"

Siri chuckled. "I can't help those who are sick in the head, really. The Legion's a lost cause there."

In a more hushed tone, Alice asked, "Has anyone noticed that and left?"

"...You mean escaped?"

Alice nodded discreetly, eyes darting to the nearest Legionnaire standing some paces away.

"Well, sometimes..." Siri replied, wringing out a brown fabric. "I've heard stories about some people, but maybe it's lies to get our hopes up. I haven't really seen that happen with my own eyes, though I can hope too. 

"But if that's what you're really thinking about, then you first need a place where you would go. I wouldn't want you to escape, just to die in a mole rat den with rad-poisoning."

Slouching her head into her hand, Alice thought about it to herself. "I hadn't even considered that."

Sighing, Siri went on, "I've had a lot of time here to consider these things. No one here hasn't thought about leaving, for the prospects of something better, no matter how much more. Even the soldiers have had their days."

Resting her hand assuredly on one of Alice's, Siri tried to comfort her. "Just do your best tomorrow. From what I've seen, you have a temperament to survive. I don't doubt it for a moment."


End file.
